1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to improvements in barbeque pits and more particularly to masonry barbecue pits. The masonry barbecue pit of the present invention provides multiple chambers, novel means for drying barbecue sauce onto cooked meat without drying the meat out during the process, and means for preventing the smoke and fumes from the fire box from exiting the pit when the doors to various chambers thereof are opened.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore various barbecue pit structures have been proposed. Examples of such previously proposed barbecue pit structures are disclosed in the following U.S. Patents:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Patentee ______________________________________ 3,344,737 Sanders 4,162,650 Davis et al. 4,401,018 Berry 4,418,615 Higgins 4,590,848 Willingham 4,702,224 Griffith ______________________________________
The Sanders U.S. Pat. No. 3,344,737 discloses a barbecue pit wherein grease drippings from the meat being cooked are kept from contacting the flames used in cooking the meat to eliminate a burnt like taste from the meat.
The Davis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,162,650 discloses an enclosed cooking apparatus for barbecuing meat wherein multiple chambers are provided and wherein a pan filled with water is used to generate steam which is utilized to entrain smoke generated during the cooking process to provide for rapid heat transfer and wherein the pan holding the water is also used to receive drippings of grease and fat from the cooking meat. The meat is predominantly supported above the pan on a plurality of upright skewers.
The Berry U.S. Pat. No. 4,401,018 discloses an insulated cooking apparatus for roasting, broiling or smoking meat or other food which provides hangers for maintaining the meat over a source of heat in such a manner that the meat is constantly moving above the source of heat. The hangers are moved by an electric motor.
The Higgins U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,615 discloses a convection barbecue pit wherein heated smoke from a fire box passes through a flue into a cooking chamber which has a discharge duct and fan in the ceiling thereof to draw the smoke entering the cooking chamber through a suction port to exhaust same. The flue may be set to exhaust smoke around the cooking chamber when the pit is in an evacuation mode.
The Willingham U.S. Pat. No. 4,590,848 discloses a cooker for cooking food such as barbecue or the like. The cooker comprises a tower having a rotating carousel therein and various means on the carousel for holding food to be cooked. A heat source is offset from beneath the cooking tower and is positioned below a warming a tower located alongside the cooking tower. Both the warming tower and the cooking tower are mounted to and supported on a wheeled carriage.
The Griffith U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,224 discloses a barbecue pit which comprises a masonry structure including a chimney portion and a fire box portion laterally adjacent to and intercommunicating with the chimney portion. The fire box portion is topped by a hood frame having an access opening therein. The side walls of the fire box form an upper horizontal ledge upon which a removable metal drip trough structure is supported, with the trough being fed by an angle drip plate having a predetermined slope so that fat dripping onto the plate is directed into the trough structure.
As will be described in greater detail hereinafter, the barbecue pit of the present invention differs from previously proposed barbecue pit structures by providing a chamber within the pit wherein sauce applied to the meat after cooking is dried onto cooked meat by ultraviolet lights so that only the sauce is dried, and not the meat and further by providing fans beneath an exhaust hood of the pit which are operated upon the opening of doors of the chambers of the pit to keep smoke and fumes from escaping through the open doors.